This is a CU Colorado Springs student blog for the following courses: Intermediate Microeconomics and Austrian Economics.

January 20, 2008

To Whom it May Concern

Dear Presidential Hopeful, As a citizen of this nation, i write to you with a sense of honor and thankfulness that I am still able to exercise my first amendment rights. Lets preserve this as it was handed down to us, and let us preserve the commandments that were brought down from the mount to us as well. It has become very clear to me, and many others before me, that we are entering a period where we must leave our self-deceptions at the door. As we live in our comfy cocoon, there are many men and woman in uniform who are trying their best to repair our nation's image abroad as we recover from the actions of several bad apples that we have accrued. We buy the mesh netting bag of fruits, but we cannot possibly expect to receive the healthiest of fruit. Which is why i am writing to you. The author Tyler Cowen devotes a chapter to viewing some of the world's problems in terms of the seven deadly sins. For Ira, latin for wrath, he notes "Markets in murder, arms sales, and terrorist killings can be found on the news virtually everyday. Halting or slowing down wrath is one of the hardest problems we face in the world. Enough said." I understand that extending his analysis of this particulary fault of man coud detract from the theme of his book, but i do not feel that "enough" has been said in this particular economic muse, so I look to you, our nations prospective leaders, to finish his statement with this in mind. In times of suffering in our world, when mother earth lashes out at the most unsuspecting of her creatures, we can place our trust and reliance in the U.S. Navy for acting as a conduit by which aid can be delivered. It is just one arm in the branch of our armed forces. We saw it in the Tsunami of 2004, and we have seen it in many other global catastophes when the status and future outlook appeared to be futile. We are nation with roots of compassion and empathy, yet we believe firmly in the right to private property, enterprise, and the solid foundation of competition. It could also be said that we have a belief in our divine right to direct the course of a nation, be it away from strong willed ideologies or nation buiding. Now, i understand that many of your constituents have ties to the defense industry. The security of their jobs relies on their vote, but many others have altogether different objectives when placing their vote in the candidate whom they trust and whom their believe will make the best decisions in group think, be the most productive in bringing about change, and will persevere with wisdom should events occur that require extreme vigilance, calmness, and level headedness. As we approach a new chapter in this book, we look back on the chapter and mark the differences in the way we conduct business both domestically and abroad, compared to how we have done it in the past. In building nations, for whats it worth, we have a duty to assume responsibility that improves the lives of those who we are reaching out to, but many would say that all we are doing is improving the "livelihoods" of those who the government has awarded contracts to in reconstructing a nations infrastructure. There are many young men and woman who would rather be Kayaking in the rocky mountians, but who have been called by their leaders to serve their country. With little accountabiity through instutitional protocol, there have been many instances both known and unknown to the public where our nations image abroad has been put into question, if not demonized completely. With no American military statutes to abide by, certain contractors answer to no one but their own, and there have not been steps in high leadership to correct these errors in thinking and acting. We have little means or punitive measures at our disposal for dealing with problems such as these, atleast we have been taught to think, or individuals themselves, when a conflict has been largely privatized. My question to you is, what steps will you take to ensure that our soldiers on the ground are not dying in vain when attempting to repair our image abroad, and what concrete actions will you take to help repair our image abroad? How will you work with congress and the international community to reinstitute the very international human rights, or Geneva code, that Christopher Dodd's father devoted his career to? As Cowen would say, telling little johnny not to push his little sister when she bothers him while he is playing his X-box is not enough, you must make your position very clear, but that is not enough, you must take the reigns to either punish or remove privileges in order to correct this behavior. YOU ARE THE COMMANDER IN CHIEF. Not commander in cheif to special interests. You owe it to the people who care to make this change. Some might pity or go so far as to say that i am being too sophomoric in my outlook. I beg to differ. The incentive to change, to truly give every breath you have for a cause, is an incentive to save life and to improve ones reputation, no matter how lost in the wind or dust it may seem. I beleive in you, many will too if you revolutionize your vision. May peace be upon you. God willing.